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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395638">Thief (Joshua/Jisoo Hong)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRainRogue/pseuds/TheRainRogue'>TheRainRogue</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Comedy, Fluff, One Shot, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:33:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395638</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRainRogue/pseuds/TheRainRogue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You leaned against the cold brick of a nearby building, staring up at the dark gray clouds. You couldn’t understand why you had to do this. If that bastard wanted other people’s money so bad, why couldn’t he steal it himself? You knew you didn’t have a choice though; he’d kill you if you didn’t return with some type of income, whether card or cash, he never cared. Honestly, you believed he didn’t even care about that money. He was probably just hoping that you’d get caught and be sent to prison; he’d finally be rid of you, then.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kpop, One Shots</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Thief (Joshua/Jisoo Hong)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><ul>
<li>
<strong>Genre</strong>: Fluff, Comedy, Angst ☁</li>
<li>
<strong>Word Count</strong>: 3,105 ☁</li>
<li>
<strong>Pairing</strong>: None ☁</li>
<li>
<strong>World</strong>: Kpop, Seventeen ☁</li>
</ul><p> <em>“I stole your purse and you chased me until I was hit by a taxi now you’re helping me to the hospital and you refuse to leave my side, wait you’re not pressing charges?? Why? I’m a thief – what do you mean you feel guilty?!”</em></p><hr/><p>You leaned against the cold brick of a nearby building, staring up at the dark gray clouds. You couldn’t understand why you had to do this. If that bastard wanted other people’s money so bad, why couldn’t he steal it himself? You knew you didn’t have a choice though; he’d kill you if you didn’t return with some type of income, whether card or cash, he never cared. Honestly, you believed he didn’t even care about that money. He was probably just hoping that you’d get caught and be sent to prison; he’d finally be rid of you, then.</p><p>You pulled up your hood to shadow your face as you walked down the street, keeping your eyes peeled for any potential victims. It was mid-winter at this point, so the people passing by were bundled up in heavy coats and thick pants. This made things easier for you – with so much padding, the chance of them noticing their missing wallet was much slimmer than it was in the summer or spring.</p><p>“One Americano, please.”</p><p>Your eyes fell on the man standing in front of the coffee shop. A hat covered his head while a mask covered the lower half of his face. Honestly, it struck you as quite suspicious. Being a person that prefers to hide from prying eyes, you were easily able to recognize that this guy didn’t want to be seen by others. Was he a criminal or something? You really didn’t care. Your focus was on the wallet held in his hand.</p><p>The barista handed him the drink and he pulled out a card from his wallet, using it to pay for his drink. As soon as his hand fell to his side, you sprung into action. You were like a blur pushing through the people heading in the opposite direction, and they stopped and stared, wondering what was happening. Your heart pounded in your ears.</p><p>It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Just before he slipped his wallet into his pocket, you reached out and snatched it from his hand, ignoring his cry of surprise. You wasted no time and took off down the street feeling a sense of satisfaction bubbling up in your stomach. You’d take his cash if he had any, but if he only had his card, you could easily grab some food before he decided to cancel it.</p><p>“Hey! Get back here!”</p><p>Your head whipped around to see the man following you, closing in. “Shit!” You tried to increase your speed, but the ground below was covered in a thin layer of frost, not providing enough traction to increase your speed. Still, you forced yourself to continue forward. Your attention stayed locked on the man chasing you, making sure that you knew the distance between you at all times. Unfortunately, you didn’t pay half as much attention to where you were running.</p><p>“Watch out!”</p><p>Your attention whipped toward the taxi that was barrelling straight for you. You didn’t have enough time to react; the driver didn’t either. You remember a hot flash of pain as the taxi collided with your side, sending you sliding across the road. You heard a sickening crack as your system flooded with adrenaline and pain. It hurt to breathe and the sounds around you blurred together. You could faintly hear screams and cries of passing pedestrians. Honking of cars nearby, oblivious of what had happened.</p><p>The very last thing you remember was the blurred faces of two people leaning over you. They were saying something, but your brain couldn’t process the words.</p><p>Your world went black.</p><hr/><p>You felt… high; like you were floating on a cloud. You could feel the prickling of pain in the back of your mind, but it was almost completely brushed over by the high. Life felt good at that moment like there was nothing for you to worry about. No abusive step-father. No thievery to survive. Just a complete feeling of calm and content.</p><p>You felt a tingling on your arm and you forced your eyes to open. It wasn’t painful but damn were your eyes heavy. It felt as if they had been sealed with cement. A groan passed your lips as the effort it took.</p><p>“Oh, you’re awake!” A cheerful voice spoke. It was clearly a woman and she sounded happy, but her voice was soft like she was talking to a child. “The doctor will be pleased to hear this!”</p><p>The doctor? What?</p><p>Your eyes finally focused and the first thing you saw was a nurse standing over you with a smile. She held a chart against her chest. “Where am I?” You managed to croak out. Your throat was dry, voice hoarse from lack of use.</p><p>“You’re in the hospital, dear. Let me get you some water, I’m sure you’re thirsty!” The woman disappeared.</p><p>You tried to force yourself to sit up, but a sharp pain in your side made you drop back down with a groan. The high was starting to wear off – or maybe the pain was just getting stronger. You honestly didn’t know which, nor did you care.</p><p>The nurse returned and clicked her tongue. “You shouldn’t move too much, your body is still healing!” She pushed a button on the side of the bed and the head started to rise until you were in a sitting position. “There. Now, drink some of this, it’ll help.”</p><p>The woman clearly didn’t trust that you had the strength to hold the paper cup on your own, instead choosing to hold it up to your mouth for you. The water was cold and it felt amazing as it slid down your throat. Just that little bit and you felt heaps better – though the dull stinging of the pain was still there.</p><p>She noticed you scrunch up your face and patted your shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s time for the next dose of your pain medication.”</p><p>You watched her as she pulled out a syringe from her pocket and inserted into the I.V attached to your left arm. Oh, you hadn’t even felt that there. Even now you don’t feel it. Normally the tape would drive you nuts.</p><p>When she finished, she smiled at you again. “I’ll send for the doctor so he can explain. In the meantime, try not to move around too much, even if you don’t feel pain. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to push this red button here. It’ll call the nurse on duty – that will be me for the next five hours.”</p><p>You watched her until she disappeared into the hallway. The room was silent, interrupted only by the beeping of the machine and the gentle dripping of your I.V. The small TV mounted to the wall was on, but the volume had been turned all the way down – thank god. Who wants to listen to the home shopping network while in the hospital? And why the hell were they selling plungers?!</p><p>Your palm found your forehead. You didn’t know what was happening, why you were in the hospital to begin with and you were teetering between not giving a shit because of the pain medication and freaking out because you couldn’t remember anything.</p><p>Well, that’s not completely true. You remember your name. And your age. Actually, not that you were using your brain, you remembered everything up until the point you decided to rob some suspicious guy buying an Americano. After that, though, things are fuzzy. You blamed the drugs, really.</p><p>Heavy footsteps reached your ears as the doctor entered your room. He was tall and full of muscle. He actually resembled Ricky Kim quite a bit – or maybe that was just how you were picturing him in your drug-infused mine.</p><p>He smiled softly. “It’s about time you woke up, kiddo. You’ve been unconscious for three days.”</p><p>Well, that explains why you felt like you had been in a desert without water.</p><p>“The nurse tells me that you don’t know why you’re here. Is that correct?”</p><p>You nodded.</p><p>“Well,” The man pulls up a chair next to your bed. “You were hit by a car and rushed to the emergency room. You were injured, but nothing fatal thankfully. You suffered a mild concussion from your head hitting the ground. Three broken ribs from the impact of the car. Your right arm was cut open pretty bad, as well.”</p><p>You glanced at the arm in question to find it wrapped tightly in a clean, white bandage from elbow to wrist.</p><p>“Are you feeling any pain?”</p><p>“Just my ribs.” Your voice was much more clear than it had been earlier.</p><p>He nodded, satisfied. “We’re going to keep you for a couple more days to observe your injuries. Currently, the main thing we’re concerned about is the concussion. You had no I.D on your person, but your fingerprints came up in the system.”</p><p>You were praising the hell out of the meds at that point. If not for them, you would have cringed at the mention of your prints and there’s no way you would have been able to keep a straight face. Honestly, you weren’t surprised; you knew that bastard wasn’t good for his word, even as a child.</p><p>Wait… if they knew who you were, does that mean…?</p><p>“Did you contact my family?”</p><p>“We’re required by law to inform family members that there an incident. However, we weren’t able to find any family in your file.”</p><p>You sighed loudly out of relief, pulling a confused look from the doctor. You scrambled to make up a story as to why you had reacted that way. “Umm… my mom is sick. Like, <em>really</em> sick and I try to keep the stress off of her as much as possible… No idea why she’s not in the file, haha, that’s so weird…”</p><p>He clearly didn’t believe you but didn’t press the issue. “Well, I’ll do my best to get you all healed up and back to her.” He pulled the bedside table within my reach. “You should probably give her a call, though.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah… totally…” You cleared your throat, reaching for the phone. You moved as slow as you possibly could before pulling away when he finally left the room. “That could have ended badly…”</p><p>You turned your gaze to the opposite side of the room where you had a beautiful view of the city. Only, the city isn’t what you focused on. Underneath the window was a pale green couch and lying on that couch was a body. The person had their back to you so you couldn’t see their face, but the body outline that peaked out from the white blanket didn’t seem familiar to you at all. Were you hallucinating?</p><p>“You’re a lucky one.” The nurse appeared at your side, making you jump in surprise. She chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”</p><p>“It’s fine… what did you mean by I’m lucky?”</p><p>“Well, that boy has stayed by your side since you arrived. He’s been pretty worried about you, constantly asking if your condition has changed.” She smiled fondly. “He’s quite the sweetheart, and cute too!”</p><p>You stared at her blankly, having no idea what the hell she was talking about, but not wanting to ask. He must be part of your missing memory.</p><p>For the next two hours, you lied in bed – not like you had any other options there – and watched the only decent channel you could find. There was a Weekly Idol marathon running, and you had to admit, the MC’s are hella funny.</p><p>Movement caught your eye and you looked over to find that the man was moving. He slowly sat up, yawning as he stretched his arms above his head. His light brown hair was slightly messy from sleep and fell lightly over his forehead. A silver cross was pierced on the top part of his left ear, but he didn’t seem to have any more piercings in. The nurse wasn’t lying – this boy was cute as hell. But who is he?</p><p>As soon as his warm brown eyes met your own, the room around you seemed to fade out of focus. It was replaced by the memory of the accident resurfacing. You remember snatching this man’s wallet and taking off. You hadn’t expected him to chase after you – your targets rarely did, usually just screaming for help and calling the cops. But this man was different. He chased you, and he kept up easily despite the frost-covered ground. You remember vividly how close he was to catching you, and you remember vividly how stupid you had been to not pay attention to what was in front of you. You had been too focused on getting caught and ran straight into the street in front of an oncoming car. Because of the light dusting of frost on the road, the car hadn’t been able to stop in time.</p><p>You’re sure that, if the man hadn’t been paying attention to the road, he wouldn’t have hit the brakes at all and you most likely would have died then and there.</p><p>“Miss? Miss, are you okay? Do I need to call the nurse?” A worried voice broke through the memory, bringing you back to reality. The man was now at your bedside, hand lightly on your shoulder as he looked at you with a worried expression.</p><p>“No, no, I’m fine.” You muttered, feeling your cheeks heat up a bit at the close proximity. “I just… remembered.”</p><p>He backed away a bit, but still looked at you worriedly. “What did you remember?”</p><p>“I stole your wallet. You chased me. I got hit by a car.”</p><p>He bit his lip and looked down at the ground.</p><p>You cleared your throat and shifted slightly in the bed. “Soo… are you gonna call the cops now?”</p><p>“Why would I do that?” He asked, confused.</p><p>“I stole your wallet, remember? I’m a thief.” You stared at him blankly. “The nurse told me that you’ve been here since I arrived. You were waiting for me to wake up so you could press charges. It’s fine, just get it over with.”</p><p>“No, I’m not going to press charges.” He responded softly, sitting down on the couch. “I stayed with you because I was worried. I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay, and… I wanted to wait for you to wake up so I could apologize in person.”</p><p>You deadpanned. “Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. <em>You </em>wanted to apologize to <em>me</em> for robbing <em>you</em>. I’m clearly not the only one with drugs in their system.”</p><p>“You got hit because I chased you.”</p><p>“No. I got hit because my dumb ass wasn’t paying attention to where I was running.” You couldn’t believe this was happening. This guy couldn’t possibly be for real. “I’m alive, so it doesn’t really matter who is at fault, right?”</p><p>He smiled and it lit up his face. “I guess you’re right.”</p><p>His guilt seemed to transfer to you because you started to feel it the more you thought about it. This whole mess happened because of you – because you were too much of a coward to stand up to your step-dad and tell him to shove it. You looked down at your hands. “I, uhh… I’m the one that should be apologizing.”</p><p>“Why did you do it?” He asked softly. His voice held no anger or disappointment, just curiosity. “Do you need money?”</p><p>You chuckled bitterly. “My life isn’t easy, but our money is comfortable. So no, I didn’t need it.”</p><p>“Then why?”</p><p>“It’s… complicated.”</p><p>He reached over, resting his hand over my own. It was warm and comforting, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. “Please tell me.”</p><p>As strange as it sounds, you felt like you <em>had</em> to tell him. After all, you stole his wallet, made him feel guilty and took three days of his life. You felt like you owed him <em>something</em> – even if that something was nothing more than an explanation.</p><p>With a sigh, you leaned your head back to stare at the white ceiling of your room. “My step-father is kind of a douche. He hates kids, and since he doesn’t work and is always home, he makes me and my younger brother leave. He usually makes us do things we shouldn’t – like stealing. If we refuse, he blows up and hits us. He used to be a cop, so he’s hella strong. Neither of us can take him, even though we’re pretty strong too. We’ve gotten used to his beatings, but it’s just easier to do what he says. It’s a pain trying to hide the bruises and keep up with the lies.”</p><p>His grip increased, but it was still gentle somehow. “That’s horrible!”</p><p>You shrugged. “It is what it is.”</p><p>“What will happen when you’re released?”</p><p>“Punished, probably.”</p><p>“Then you can’t go home! We can call the cops -”</p><p>“No!” You sat up quickly only to groan at the sharp pain that shot through your ribs. “If I call the cops, it’ll only make things worse. It’s our word against his. Everyone that meets him loves him. And on the off chance that they did believe us – I’d be on the street and my brother would be put in the system.”</p><p>He bit his lip in thought, trying to figure out a solution to your problem, but you knew better.</p><p>“Look, I appreciate your kindness. I appreciate you not pressing charges. And I appreciate you staying here with me. But here is where we go our separate ways. There’s nothing you can do for me. I’m sure you have a life to get back to. A family, a pet… a girlfriend. You should go.”</p><p>He wanted to protest, but a sudden thought made him change his mind. He smiled softly, grabbing his coat, along with the hat and mask that he had been wearing that day. “I do need to get back to work. Don’t give up hope. Things will work out for you, I know they will.”</p><p>As much as you wanted to scoff and tell him that he had no idea what he was talking about, you just forced a smile back. This guy had been too kind to you and you couldn’t bring yourself to be rude. And then it hit you.</p><p>You didn’t know his name. You wanted to ask, but he had already gone.</p><p>You slid down the mattress with a sigh. “Not like it matters. I’ll never see that guy again. He was so cute, though.”</p><hr/><p> </p>
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